Telford man under court supervision for possessing heroin

COURTHOUSE >> A Telford man who police found slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle, “possibly overdosing on heroin,” will have court supervision in his future now that he admitted to possessing the drug.

Kevin Craig Ball, 29, of the 100 block of Penn Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to three to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession of heroin in connection with a Feb. 26 incident in the borough. Judge William R. Carpenter, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, also ordered Ball to complete one year of probation following parole, meaning Ball will be under court supervision for about three years.

The judge also ordered that Ball be evaluated for addiction supervision during his parole and probationary period. Ball will also have to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and comply with any treatment recommendations.

The investigation began about 7 a.m. when Telford police found Ball unconscious in the driver’s seat of a Toyota Tacoma at the rear of the 100 block of Penn Avenue, according to a criminal complaint.

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“Ball was slumped over and what appeared to be a used syringe was laying on his lap,” Telford Police Sgt. David Bechtel wrote in the criminal complaint, adding Ball awoke as police knocked on the vehicle’s window.

While searching Ball he collapsed and became unresponsive and then “suddenly gasped for air and regained consciousness,” police said. Police summoned medical officials and Ball was transported to Grand View Hospital in Sellersville, Bucks County, for evaluation by medical staff in the emergency room. In the meantime, police searched the vehicle which Ball had been occupying.

“I performed a sweep of the driver area and found several small, clear baggies, often used to transport heroin wrappers, in the open center console as well as several blue wax wrappers in the same small, clear baggies, wrapped in a rubber band,” Bechtel alleged.

Bechtel said he immediately notified medical officials to inform them that “Ball was possibly overdosing on heroin,” according to the criminal complaint.

“While speaking to Ball at Grand View Hospital, Ball stated that he used two bags of heroin and smoked meth earlier in the morning,” Bechtel alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding after Ball was cleared by an attending physician he was taken into custody on the drug-related charges.